The UCLA Global Advisors Council (GAC) was created in early 2024 to guide UCLA in expanding its reach as a global university — one of the five major goals of UCLA’s 2023–28 Strategic Plan. The council held its first meeting in early March 2024 and now meets on a monthly basis. Its 21 members represent all schools and divisions on campus; they are currently serving terms that will conclude in June 2025.
UCLA’s strategic plan seeks to deepen UCLA’s impact at a moment of transformation within American society, within Los Angeles and within our university as a whole. UCLA is remarkable engine of positive change in California and across the globe. It provides an excellent education to a widely diverse student body. It produces transformative research for the public good. And it contributes greatly to the welfare of our region, state and the world.
By maximizing our contributions to the world, UCLA helps create a better future for our global society. The university considers Los Angeles to be a major fulcrum for expanding its global impact. Los Angeles is home to an amazing number of diverse communities and cultures, as well as some of the largest diasporic populations in the world. UCLA’s work is intimately bound to its home city, where countless communities maintain robust international networks. As a global city, Los Angeles and its residents are also at the forefront of multiple global challenges that require global solutions with local applications.
The Mission of the Council
GAC is dedicated to communicating UCLA’s achievements in scholarship, education and service within a global framework. Specifically, the council seeks to broaden the global impact of UCLA, with an eye toward its relationships with local communities of Los Angeles and California as a whole. Its immediate goals are to:
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showcase the global impacts of UCLA;
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develop innovative ideas to expand UCLA’s global reach and engagement;
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gather data on the university’s global initiatives and their impact, including on local LA and Californian communities;
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identify and recommend significant partnerships on global issues; and
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advise UCLA on global strategy, international education opportunities, globally engaged research, alumni engagement, and related topics.
Council Members
Chair: Cindy Fan, Vice Provost for International Studies and Global Engagement
Deputy Chair: Kathryn Paul, Assistant Vice Provost, Director for International Collaborations, UCLA International Institute
Members and institutional affiliations:
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David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Sadath Ali Sayeed, Professor, Pediatrics
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UCLA Anderson School of Management
Uday Karmarkar, Professor, Management
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UCLA Division of Continuing Education and UCLA Extension
Susie Morris, Assistant Dean, International Programs
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UCLA Division of Humanities
José Luiz Passos, Professor, Spanish & Portuguese
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UCLA Division of Life Sciences
Paul Barber, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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UCLA Division of Physical Sciences
Paula Diaconescu, Professor, Chemistry
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UCLA Division of Social Sciences
TBA
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UCLA Fielding School of School of Public Health
Anne Rimoin, Epidemiology
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UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
Thomas Hodgson, Assistant Professor, Musicology
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UCLA Institute of American Cultures
Vinay Lal, Professor, History and Asian American Studies
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UCLA Library
Rachel Deblinger, Director, Modern Endangered Archives Program
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UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Veronica Herrera, Associate Professor, Urban Planning
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UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science
Abeer Alwan, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
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UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
Alex Ungprateeb Flynn, Assistant Professor, World Arts and Cultures/Dance
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UCLA School of Dentistry
Diana Messadi, Professor, Dentistry
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UCLA School of Education and Information Studies
Marjorie Elaine, Professor, Education
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UCLA School of Law
Máximo Langer, Professor, Law
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UCLA School of Nursing
Wei-Ti Chen, Professor, Nursing
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UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
Shelleen Greene, Associate Professor, Film, Television & Digital Media